r/queen

Really glad you all enjoyed my review of Queen's debut album! It was fun to write it, and I think that that album holds up as a really great one overall; one of their stronger releases, certainly. Though I will say that this one is one that I am glad gets a LOT more recognition than when it originally released. I hope you all enjoy this review!

Queen II Review
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This album is mindblowingly excellent, and the fact that its finally getting the recognition it deserves nowadays is satisfying. After opening the door to another world of whimsical adventured waiting to be explored, spells waiting to be uncovered, and ogres in the fantastical lands of Rhye, Queen manages to get even more focused on this album with a unique idea of two contrasting yet connecting sides, Side White and Side Black instead of your typical Side A and B.

Queen II may not be a concept album by technicality, but it does have a loose theme running throughout most songs on Side Black, penned by frontman Freddie Mercury. The sound on this album takes use of multi-layered tracks to have impressive vocal harmonies, multi-layered guitar overdubs, and a vast exploration of musical styles. Despite having largely negative reviews from contemporary critics, its now seen as a staple in their output and held in mostly high regard by retrospective critics, other musicians, and the band themselves.

Side White is penned by Brian May and begins with "Procession/Father To Son" which is a hard rocker that starts slow and functions as an intro to the album, building up excitement and fantastic lyricism about a father talking to his son about a country he will acquire as he grows into royalty. It has beautiful harmonies and some of Brian's best guitar work, though the first part shouldn't really be its own song, because it works better as a whole with the latter. "White Queen (As It Began) follows with an intro that is a tail to the previous track leading into this song via a fade-in and genius chord progressions, with sorrowful lyrics that get a strong emphasis from Freddie's vocal performance, and a section in which Brian makes his guitar sound like a sitar in Beatlesque fashion. I really enjoy how unique this is as a composition, and it demonstrates how creative they are.

"Some Day One Day" is a poetic song in which all guitars play different parts yet despite this, the concept works quite well as the song works perfectly and features Brian May on vocals for the first time. I've honestly always loved his style of singing and I'd daresay its rather underappreciated compared to Freddie's vocals; his voice fits the beauty of this song and really packs the emotional punch. "The Loser In The End" is the only misstep on the album, and closes this half of the album with a sour note. The percussion is rather awkward and doesn't really add up to a whole as well as a composition; it also sounds entirely out of place on this side since its meant to be a more straightforward metal song, when the other tracks, while still reasonably heavy, were meant to be more emotional; in short it sticks out like a sore thumb. Not to mention the lyrics are kind of just....embarrassing.

Then began Side Black; this one starts with "Ogre Battle" which is an impressive number that features the outro playing in reverse and smoothly sliding into the main guitar riff completely naturally, and its lyrics describe the battle in an arena of fantastical Ogre creatures, the guitar work is exceptional here and is the best flex Brian's done up to this point to his capabilities, not to mention Freddie's vocal performance is top notch. This is one of their best songs, and "The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke" features incredible harmonies, and use of Harpsichord which is rare in rock music yet pulled off amazingly here, giving it a medieval feel that fits right in with the vibe of the overall album, this is yet another masterpiece. This song leads into "Nevermore" which is a beautiful well-composed piano ballad detailing the distress of a breakup with beautiful heartfelt lyrics and falsetto vocals from Freddie. It's really a shame that this song isn't longer, it is quite refreshing and I think Freddie's falsetto is among the best of the more known rock singers.

"The March of The Black Queen" is the bands first magnum opus stomping out of Side Black with a great variety of music during its seven minute length. Starting with a slow dramatic piano intro with appoggiatura figurations on the B chord, the next section starts with an E minor as two guitars explode into the first line with backing vocals creating a harmonic carpet, making it one of the most unique and mind-bending songs of the 70's. The song also has amazing lyricism and leads directly into "Funny How Love Is" which is a song influenced by Brian Wilson's wall-of-sound production style and harmonically influenced by them as well, while the music style takes some obvious inspiration from pastoral songs too. Sadly, I have to say that It doesn't quite work from a production standpoint as it sounds entirely out of place with the rest of the album, and ends up in a severe sound clash between every instrument as they overpower Freddie's vocals, but it's decent enough and even a tad bit charming of a little British number.

"Seven Seas of Rhye" caps things off as the first entry in the UK singles chart by the band. This song is phenomenal, Freddie's mystical lyrics and use of imagery of describing fantastical lands reaches its peak here, and Roger's drumming is absolutely out of this world, the way he utilizes his kit to add to the groove provided by John Deacon and Brian really makes something amazing. This song has so much character, it only makes sense as to why its still included on greatest hit compilations, what a way to end the album!

The only things holding this back from being their very best work is the production being a tad weak. While its still a very noticeable improvement from the debut album in terms of that, you can clearly tell it is a bit dark and murky in how the instruments are recorded, and the one bad song (Roger has written better; I don't think he's a bad songwriter, just this isn't very cream-of-the-crop) also takes away slightly from it.

Overall, I'd go as far as to call this one of the best albums of all time and a must check out for any rock fan, they push their roots in rock and metal as far as they could which showed their studio mastery, weaknesses in production, and this album much more than the first solidified their approach to jumping across various styles, incorporating different types of music, and the theatricality they'd embrace the rest of their career.

Rating: ★★★★★

TRACKLIST RATING:

1. Procession: ★★★
2. Father To Son: ★★★★★
3. White Queen (As It Began): ★★★★★
4. Some Day One Day: ★★★★
5. The Loser In The End: ★★
6. Ogre Battle: ★★★★★
7. The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke: ★★★★★
8. Nevermore: ★★★★
9. The March of The Black Queen: ★★★★★
10. Funny How Love Is: ★★★
11. Seven Seas of Rhye: ★★★★★

THE JOURNEY SO FAR (OTHER REVIEWS!):
Queen review (4/5 stars)

Hi all
Hope you are well!
Anyone that has gone to the studio experience in montreux in this sub? I’m trying to determine if you need to book before you go or not - it looks like you don’t , but please keep me honest!
Also, anyone here has a photo of “A winter’s tale” handwritten lyrics? I can’t find full lyrics anywhere.
Thanks all!

If the quality of the sessions is just like this demo, I'll go crazy. More real instruments, more raw energy, just like the Miracle sessions

Hey guys!

I really want to get a queen tat but the problem is that I'm quite picky and, to be fair, all queen tattoos I've seen happen to look quite similar, so I don't have that many options. I definitely don't want the band members' faces tattooed. Same goes for the crest, notes or lyrics (unless we're talking about something heavily lyric-inspired but definitely not strictly lyrics). I'm quite stuck because my preferences heavily affect the number of viable options lol. I'd love to hear some of your ideas!